UFC president Dana White expects Web to serve as global UFC television channel

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White hasn’t tempered his plans for world domination, and as the organization’s international expansion continues, the UFC boss expects the Internet to play a significant role.

Over the weekend, White said the UFC could soon offer country-specific versions of its reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter,” and even full event series in new markets.

But American and other fans need not worry; White expects to make the offerings available to a worldwide audience with the World Wide Web serving as a sort of global television channel for all things UFC.

“As technology keeps growing, what I believe is going to happen – and I better be right, or we’re [expletive] – is all the world is eventually going to be watching television through the Internet,” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “And once that happens, the whole world will be watching.

“Back when I was a kid, I lived in Las Vegas. You had Channel 3, Channel 5, Channel 8 and Channel 13. You never thought there’d be a day 500 channels on different things and you could actually have cable and satellite and watch a thousand channels. You never expected that to happen. I truly believe all television is going to the Internet and all of the world will be able to watch certain things.”

So how quickly will this all take place?

White said the organization is already on its way. As you’ve no doubt seen here on MMAjunkie.com and other Web sites, the UFC offers free video streams of its weigh-ins, pre-event press conferences and post-fight pressers. Even special events, such as UFC Fight Club Q&A sessions and other fan events, have been available for online viewing. You can even purchase entire UFC events online through UFC.com and partner sites such as Yahoo! Sports and AOL Fanhouse, and UFC-produced content such as fighter interviews and event previews populate the UFC-provided video player on event weeks.

White, in fact, hinted that much of the company’s (and his own) future success rests in the ability to deliver additional high-bandwidth content through the Web.

“If that doesn’t happen, I’m over man,” White said. “I’ve been doing all this [expletive] for nothing.”

When White maneuvered to purchase the UFC in 2001 with backing from Frank Fertitta and Lorenzo Fertitta, he did so for $2 million – mere chump change for a company now estimated to be worth north of $1 billion. Under the direction of Zuffa LLC, the company slowly began to draw bigger crowds, visit more prominent venues, acquire more top-level talent, and secure more prestigious corporate sponsorships. The real value, though, came from the company’s ability to get back on most cable pay-per-view with better VHS and DVD distribution.

Four years later, in perhaps the company’s biggest (and most successful) gamble, Zuffa invested $10 million into the first season of “TUF.” The UFC essentially paid for the time, and with little promotion from a nervous cable backer, the first few shows featured advertising for future UFC events, some supplement companies and little else. Now, sponsors such as Burger King and Harley-Davidson are fixtures on the show. (Miller Lite has sponsored the upcoming 11th season of “TUF 11,” which debuts Wednesday on Spike TV.)

In fact, just this past week, the UFC and Spike TV launched UltimateFighter.com, an impressive destination that includes every episode and every fight from the first 10 seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Anyone with a Web connection from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe has free access to the best UFC-fan-recruiting tool imaginable.

As much as the company has grown, White said the UFC’s ability to use the Web could “take things to a whole new level.”

White confirmed the UFC is looking at international “TUF” editions – he particularly wants to see teams with Canadians, Brazilians, Mexicans and fighters based in the block of Middle Eastern countries – and may even launch region-specific events similar to the UFC Fight Night shows that have been a staple in the U.S. since 2005.

But fans in North America and elsewhere need not worry. As the company ventures overseas, White said the UFC’s longtime fans “absolutely” will have access to all the content. After all, he said the fight language is universal.

“If we do ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ in the Middle East, if we do “The Ultimate Fighter’ in the U.K. , if we do it in Europe, then Americans, Canadians, Mexicans – you name it – [everyone is] going to be interested in watching these fights,” he said. “Because it doesn’t matter what language the person speaks or what country they’re from. A fight is a fight, and people who are fight fans want to see them.”

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